William truby



@with gitane lglatimt @frn WILLIAM. TRBY. OF BRUSH VALLEY, PENNSYLVANIA.

Letters Patent No. 70,135, dated Octom 22, 1867. p

IMPROVEMENT IN MANURE-FORKS, 6to.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CON CERN:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM TRUBY, of Brush Valley, county et' Indiana,and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvementin` Forks for Mannre and other purposes, and that thefollowing is a fulland exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Y i Figure 1 isa view of the back side of a fork constructed according to my invention.

VFigure 2 is a front view of the same.

Figure 3 is a section, taken on the line x x of fig. 1; and

Figure 4 the same, showing the fork set in the position of' a rake orgrapnel.

The object of this invention is to provide a manure or pitch-fork withccrtain.deviccs,'to be hereafter particularly described, by means ofwhich it may be readily changed from an ordinary pitch-fork into a rake,pronged hoe, or grapnel, by means of the simple and inexpensive devicesconstituting the subject of this invention, withoutrrequiring the lossof any appreciable time, or involving the exerciseof any labor oringenuity on the part of the user. d

The prongs or tines of the fork a'a a a may be constructed of anyapproved form or size adapted to the use in view. They are attached toor constructed in a solid piece, with a base-plate, A, the rear` edge ofwhich is formed into a hinge, c', to which is joined, by the pivot el,the eye c, forming the outer end of the tang 6 so that the two parts Aand b form, together, a hinge-joint, which works freely as such, whennot held in a locked state, in either the position shown in iig. 3 or g.4, by the catchesf or 7L. These catchesfandh are attached respectivelyto the loose ends of the springs e and g; these springs being firmlyattached at their other ends, by rivets m m, to the tang b, andv theelastic force of the springs tending to keep the catches f and itpressed towards e'ach other. Upon the back side of the plate A is aninclined counter-catch, j, and a rib, z', between which is a groove toreceive the catch orpawl L, as seen in Eig. 3, in which position thepawl is firmly held by the force of the springg, and bymeansof which thefork is firmly held in the extended position shown when it is to be usedas an ordinary fork.

When it is desired, however, to change the fork. into a rake, hoe, orgrapnel, as .shown in g. 4, the pawl 7L is `withdrawn fromits groove, bymeansof the ring Z, (or any other suitable catch, lug, or knob,) and thepoiutsrot` the tines pressed forward, when the inclined end of catehfcomes intol contact with the front side of the plate A and slides uponits surface, the springe yielding under the pressure, until the catchenters the square or rectangular opening 'c made in said plate, andpassing entirely throughsaid opening or slot` until the hook of thecatch passes the edge of the slot, when the reaction of the spring ecauses the said hook to firmly catch over the` said edge and hold thetincs of the fork rigidly in'the position shown in fig. 4, in whichfortuit maybe used for all the purposes of a rake, hoe, or grapnelN AWhen it is desired to restore the tlnes to the normal position of afork, a moderate pressure of the foot upon the end of catchf releases itfrom its hold upon the slot cand the tines may then be turned back tothe position shown in iig. 3, and cz'ca versa.

I Iaving thus described my invention, so as to enable others skilled inthe art to make and use it, what I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is-

The combination of the springs e and y, provided with eatchesfaud t,with the hinges c c of the tang I) and plate A of a 'manure or otherfork; said plate being provided with a slot, t, counter-catchy', and ribi, all combined and arranged substantialiy as and for the purpose setforth.

l WILLIAM TRUBY.

Witnesses A. R. Evans, Jeun Tanni'.

